Choosing a Safe Nursing Home: Questions That Help Prevent Bedsores Before They Happen

Choosing a nursing home is rarely a calm, neatly planned decision. For many families, it comes after a hospital stay, a fall, or a moment when it becomes clear that more care is needed than can be provided at home. Suddenly, you’re touring facilities, hearing unfamiliar terms, and trying to make the best choice you can under emotional pressure.

In the middle of all that, safety concerns start to surface. Will the facility keep your loved one safe? Are staff keen to identify common conditions, like bedsores, and can address them properly?

The good news is that many serious bedsores are preventable with attentive, consistent care. Asking the right questions before choosing a facility can help families better understand how a nursing home approaches daily care, monitoring, and prevention, long before a problem has a chance to grow.

Why Bedsore Prevention Is Worth Asking About

Families often worry that asking detailed questions about bedsores will feel confrontational or overly cautious, but these questions are one of the clearest ways to understand how a nursing home handles everyday care.

When you ask how a facility prevents bedsores, you’re really asking how closely residents are monitored, how consistent care is across shifts, and how quickly staff respond to early signs of trouble. 

Questions to Ask About Daily Movement and Repositioning

Regular movement and repositioning are non-negotiable parts of care for those unable to move on their own. Ask questions about how a facility handles repositioning to gauge their process.

How often are residents repositioned?

Listen for answers that include specifics. Facilities that rely on schedules or individualized care plans are usually more organized than those that rely on general assurances. Vague responses are a red flag that the facility doesn’t have a structured plan.

How is repositioning documented?

You should also ask how the staff keeps track of repositioning. Written records help ensure that care is consistent across shifts and doesn’t depend solely on memory, while documentation becomes important if concerns arise later.

Questions About Skin Checks and Early Detection

Movement alone isn’t always enough to prevent skin breakdown. Regular skin checks are how staff catch early warning signs before a minor issue becomes a serious wound.

How often are residents’ skin conditions checked?

Facilities should be able to explain when skin assessments occur and who performs them. Residents with limited mobility or other risk factors may need more frequent checks.

What happens if staff notice early signs of breakdown?

The most telling answers describe what comes next. Increased monitoring, changes to care plans, or notifying medical providers all suggest that early warning signs are taken seriously, not brushed aside.

Questions About Staffing Levels and Training

Care plans are only as good as the staff that drives them. As you choose a nursing home for your loved one, make sure to meet the staff and ask facility managers about staffing practices.

Who is responsible for bedsore prevention?

Care often involves several team members, but responsibility should still be clear. When everyone knows their role, it can help to ask who oversees prevention efforts and how follow-through is ensured.

How are staff trained to prevent pressure injuries?

Training shouldn’t be a one-time event. Ongoing education helps staff recognize subtle changes and adjust care as residents’ needs evolve. Facilities that speak comfortably about continued training often have stronger prevention cultures.

Questions About Care Plans and High-Risk Residents

Not every resident enters a nursing home with the same needs. Any facility you speak with should have a tailored care plan for your loved one that includes bedsore prevention.

How is bedsore risk assessed?

Facilities typically evaluate risk factors when creating a care plan. Asking how those assessments work can provide insight into how individualized and complete care really is.

How often are care plans updated?

As health changes, care plans should change with it. Answers that suggest regular review and adjustment often reflect a more attentive approach.

Questions About Communication With Families

Proactive, honest communication helps families understand what’s happening day to day and allows potential issues to be addressed before they escalate.

How will families be kept informed?

Some facilities provide routine updates, while others reach out only when something goes wrong. Understanding how and when communication happens can help set expectations.

How are concerns handled and documented?

When families raise questions, it matters how the facility responds. Written follow-up and clear explanations can signal a willingness to address concerns thoughtfully, while vague, clouded answers may signal they’re trying to hide something.

When Questions Don’t Have Clear Answers

Not every bedsore is preventable, especially when someone has complex medical needs. What matters is how a facility responds to those needs, explains what happened when something goes wrong, and whether the care provided matches what families were told to expect in the beginning.

And, unfortunately, we don’t always know this information up front when choosing a nursing home for a loved one. Families make the best decision they can, given the information they have available, but they must trust that the facility does what it says it will behind closed doors.

If something does occur, and the answers you receive feel inconsistent or overly vague, you can, and should, push back. Some facilities may not take kindly to questioning, especially if they’re in the wrong, but that’s where you should call on an experienced attorney to hold them accountable under the law.

With 1,000+ trial-ready attorneys and offices nationwide, Morgan & Morgan has the size, resources, and courtroom strength to hold nursing homes accountable when families are ignored or misled. Learn more about your family’s options today with a free, no-risk case evaluation.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Are bedsores always a sign of nursing home neglect?

Not necessarily. Some residents are at higher risk due to medical conditions. However, many serious pressure injuries are considered avoidable with proper monitoring and care.

2. Who is most at risk for developing bedsores?

Residents with limited mobility, poor circulation, nutritional challenges, or certain chronic conditions often face a higher risk of developing bedsores.

3. Can families request records related to bedsore prevention?

Yes. Families can typically request care plans, repositioning schedules, skin assessments, and wound care notes to better understand the care their loved one received.

4. How quickly can a bedsore develop?

Skin breakdown can begin in a matter of hours or days if pressure is not relieved. Prolonged neglect of a developing bedsore is how a small condition turns into something serious.

5. Can a facility still be responsible if a resident was high-risk?

Higher risk often requires more attentive care, not less. Responsibility depends on whether appropriate preventive steps were taken.